Dulce et decorum est

"Dulce Et Decorum Est" is a poem by Wilfred Owen that challenges old conventions in its portrayal of the realities of war. As a writer of some good, some bad, and mostly mediocre poetry, I have often wondered what it is that makes a great poem great. I found myself disillusioned and mystified by the whole business. I could never compare to Yeats, whose words I once spray-painted on a wall because I loved them …

…relies on its truth as its heartbeat. Write your moments as vividly and as passionately as you lived them. Don't cheat me, because I want to feel what you felt. I want to laugh, cry, sigh, scream, fight, fly, drive, sit, and ponder as you did. Remember, "Dulce et decorum est pro patria mori". Or that Jethro Tull song with the line about a guy with a runny nose. Poetry. It's all in the image.